Hello,
I have a question about how CHIRP handles GMRS
radios, e.g. BTech GMRS V1 and Retevis RB26. I've noticed that CHIRP enforces
that GMRS channels follow the FRS channel number and frequency pairings, e.g.
Channel 1 is 462.5625, Channel 18 is 462.625, etc. I've been trying to
find in the FCC regs if this mapping is a requirement of GMRS operation. The
only place I've found the channels spelled out is on 47 CFR Part 95B §95.563
"FRS Channels" (link), but GMRS seems only to specify the frequencies and
bandwidth which may be used via Part 95E §95.1763 "GMRS Channels"
(link). It's entirely possible that I've missed the clause requiring
this mapping, and I am not a lawyer, so apologies if I've overlooked
it.
When I am programming a GMRS radio, I don't always want what my
family refers to as our "channel 1" to be 462.5625. Likewise I may want
to set up different repeaters that may use the same frequencies, but different
tones (especially on radios where I cannot edit the tone from the radio
itself) I am able to program the RB26 to accept an alternate GMRS-legal
frequency with a little trickery, so there does not seem to be a firmware
restriction enforcing this and it hasn't bricked my radio (yet).
Would
it be possible for CHIRP to accept GMRS-legal frequencies in any channel slot,
and not require the FRS channel-frequency mapping?
Thank you,
Chris
Romp